Memory Foam Project.
Thread Starter
|
Cruiser
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 104
Likes: 0
Memory Foam Project.
02 RKC
I am to impatient to wait to send my seat off to Mean City so I got a wild hair and thought I would give it a go myself and see what happens.
I have a friend that does custom aircraft upholstery. He hooked me up with a foam supplier and said he would be happy to recover it if I couldnt reuse the stock cover.
I snapped a few shots as I went along and thought I would share with the forum.
So far I have about 4 hours into the project. $75.00 In the foam. And a few bucks for a can of glue.
The seat torn down.
The Foam: I got One Greean And One Blue. The Green is a little stiffer.
The First Cut. I used an old sawsall blade I had laying around.
The Second Cut about 2'' total
Now the Blue Foam
On to the little ladies part of the seat.
I cut all the way down to this insert they have in the foam...dont know what it does, its to wimpy for support but it looked like a good place to stop.
On The rear I wrapped both peices all the way around the sides. This should give her about 4 more inches in width without haveing to modify the pan.
Test Fit.
After a little shaping.
I am to impatient to wait to send my seat off to Mean City so I got a wild hair and thought I would give it a go myself and see what happens.
I have a friend that does custom aircraft upholstery. He hooked me up with a foam supplier and said he would be happy to recover it if I couldnt reuse the stock cover.
I snapped a few shots as I went along and thought I would share with the forum.
So far I have about 4 hours into the project. $75.00 In the foam. And a few bucks for a can of glue.
The seat torn down.
The Foam: I got One Greean And One Blue. The Green is a little stiffer.
The First Cut. I used an old sawsall blade I had laying around.
The Second Cut about 2'' total
Now the Blue Foam
On to the little ladies part of the seat.
I cut all the way down to this insert they have in the foam...dont know what it does, its to wimpy for support but it looked like a good place to stop.
On The rear I wrapped both peices all the way around the sides. This should give her about 4 more inches in width without haveing to modify the pan.
Test Fit.
After a little shaping.
Thread Starter
|
Cruiser
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 104
Likes: 0
I was pretty impressed with how well the glue bonds. Once it sets (a few seconds) the two parts are one.
The guy I got the foam from told me to put the whole thing in the freeze overnight for easy final shaping.
The next step is to wrap it up in a black garbage bag and take off for a few hundred mile ride with the wife.
If we still get butt burn i might try to add some gel.
I dont think I will be able to reuse the old cover because I added so much to the rear but I will give it a try.
I will report back after the ride.
The guy I got the foam from told me to put the whole thing in the freeze overnight for easy final shaping.
The next step is to wrap it up in a black garbage bag and take off for a few hundred mile ride with the wife.
If we still get butt burn i might try to add some gel.
I dont think I will be able to reuse the old cover because I added so much to the rear but I will give it a try.
I will report back after the ride.
Extreme HDF Member
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 10,045
Likes: 36
From: ST. Louis
I hope it feels great when you're finished.
FYI: Word of warning on adding a gel pad. The gel will absord what ever the temp is. When it's cold out "it will stay cold", when it's hot out "it will stay hot".
Because of the 4 months of over 95 degrees days here in Texas, I had a local seat dude say it always uses some sort of insulating foam on top of the gel pad.
When the bike sits out in the sun, the seats just gets and stays to damn hot to sit on.
FYI: Word of warning on adding a gel pad. The gel will absord what ever the temp is. When it's cold out "it will stay cold", when it's hot out "it will stay hot".
Because of the 4 months of over 95 degrees days here in Texas, I had a local seat dude say it always uses some sort of insulating foam on top of the gel pad.
When the bike sits out in the sun, the seats just gets and stays to damn hot to sit on.
Thread Starter
|
Cruiser
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 104
Likes: 0
I wrapped the seat in plastic and rode into work this AM.
Initially it felt very stiff. But after about 1 mile down the road I could feel my butt sinking in a bit. Nice!
The riding position feels pretty much the same.
So far so good only time and miles will tell. I can tell it will be way better than any of the Harley seats I have had on it. I think I have tried eveyone they make that would fit...they all sucked after the first 50 miles.
I hope the weather holds up today so we can go for a nice long ride tonight.
Thanks for the gel pad tip. I have heard that before. I think I may just get the sheep skin Impact pads from Mean City that just lay over the top. That way we can take them in out of the cold or stick them in the bags when the sun is beating down on them.
Initially it felt very stiff. But after about 1 mile down the road I could feel my butt sinking in a bit. Nice!
The riding position feels pretty much the same.
So far so good only time and miles will tell. I can tell it will be way better than any of the Harley seats I have had on it. I think I have tried eveyone they make that would fit...they all sucked after the first 50 miles.
I hope the weather holds up today so we can go for a nice long ride tonight.
Thanks for the gel pad tip. I have heard that before. I think I may just get the sheep skin Impact pads from Mean City that just lay over the top. That way we can take them in out of the cold or stick them in the bags when the sun is beating down on them.
Cruiser
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 163
Likes: 1
From:
Next time use electric carving knife to cut the foam. Its much easier and makes a nice smooth cut. And you can do carve outs in spots you need much easier than a saw blade.
Trending Topics
Cruiser
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 195
Likes: 0
From: Champaign, Illinois
Excellent project and good work on your part - but - 4 hours and $75.00 in material is the same cost to send it to MCC's. I got the same work for ~$150 including shipping. Just had to schedule in March when I couldn't ride anyway. But it's something YOU did and that's worth alot personally.
HD Forum Stories
The Best of Harley-Davidson for Lifelong Riders
8 Best Harley-Davidson Motorcycles Ever
Pouria Savadkouei
10 Worst Harley-Davidson Motorcycles Ever
Pouria Savadkouei
Killer Custom's Jail Break Is The Breakout That Refused to Blend In
Verdad Gallardo
Crazy Bunderbike Build Looks Amazing, But Is It Impossible to Ride?
Verdad Gallardo
Harley-Davidson Reveals Super Cool Cafe Racer Concept
Verdad Gallardo
Engraved Rebellion: Inside Bundnerbike's Glam Rock II
Verdad Gallardo
10 Motorcycles You Should Never Buy
Joe Kucinski
10 Things Harley-Davidson Needs to Fix in 2026
Verdad Gallardo
Southpaw Super Glide: A Left-Hand-Drive 1979 Harley FXE Built to Fit the Rider
Verdad Gallardo
Thread Starter
|
Cruiser
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 104
Likes: 0
I hear that! As soon as I wrote the check for the foam I knew It was going to cost more than to just send it off to MCC. And I still have th cover to deal with. But the experience will be priceless if it works.
